Blurred
by xSilentSecretsx
Summary: Where Artemis Crock tries her best to be a good person and a hero while being supported by her uncle and a boy who got bit by a spider and had the audacity to call himself Spider-Man. "You're hardly a man." Artemis snorted in amusement, "Plus where's the originality?" Peter rolled his eyes at his friends teasing, "Didn't you name your alter ego after yourself?"
1. Chapter 1

**Where it all started**

 **2005**

"Uncle Tony! Uncle Tony!" Six year old Artemis Crock screamed in excitement, while jumping up and down.

"What is it?" He asks while not looking up from a file he was observing.

"I did it! I made something look!" She urged and Tony turned his head around and snatched the item from her hands immediately.

"What is it?" He questioned excitedly.

"Press the button!" The young girl screamed in exhilaration. Tony then pressed the button and to his surprise confetti shot out of the box and the tune to happy birthday played. His eyes widened in realization for a moment and then a smile played on his lips.

"Thanks Missy." He patted her head. "I'm busy right now, but how about you go to the park and we'll celebrate tonight." He suggested and the future archer nodded enthusiastically.

The young girl then walked (more like ran) out the room and asked Kenneth, her own personal butler, to take her to the park.

Once she arrived she immediately went towards the swings where another girl who, was maybe a year or two older than her, sat.

"Hi." The blonde smiled.

"Hi." The other girl beamed back.

"I'm Artemis."

"Jubilation."

"Joy?" Artemis questions.

"What?"

"You're name means happiness or joyful." She points out.

"Oh! Yeah it does. I'm surprised you knew that." Jubilation grinned from ear to ear. "Most people make fun of me because of it."

"It's unique unlike them obviously." Artemis snorted.

"Yeah I guess you're right. So you're named after the goddess right?"

"Yup. Are you from around here?" Artemis questioned the older girl.

"I live in Beverly Hills with my mom and dad. What about you?"

"I live around here with my uncle."

The two girls kept talking to each other and gave each other their numbers. For the first time since her dad disappeared. Artemis was truly happy.

 **2006**

Artemis and Jubilation kept in touch. They called each other every day and visited each other frequently. Artemis also began to distance herself from Tony. From a young age she could tell that he wasn't ready for the responsibility to take care of a child yet. He was always busy and when he wasn't he would be always be with some girl. Artemis craved for his attention, but in her mind work was more important. She knew her mom was in jail, her dad left to who knows where, and her sister ran away, but she still had hope for her family. She wanted them to be all together again.

Artemis knew that if she ran away she could take care of herself. She was smart. She was more than smart, she was intellectual. She could memorize anything she read and she probably knew how to create a nuclear bomb (though she wouldn't attempt it.). She was so intelligent that it scared her. She knew far more things that she should. Artemis also knew that if things continued that she may not live a very long life. Her brain wouldn't be able to handle all of the information it was gaining at a rapid speed and it eventually shut down, much like a computer.

The blonde also knew that what she couldn't do was exactly _normal_ to most people's standers. She was in fact a mutant and mutants weren't appreciated by society as a whole. She wanted to tell Tony about her ability, but she was scared of how he may react She didn't want to ruin her and Tony's barely existent relationship.

 **2008**

It has been a year and a half since Artemis and Jubilation ceased contact. Of course Artemis was upset, but quickly got over it when she made a new friend, who was always able to sneak in somehow. Her name was Valarie. She looked a lot like Jade, but her hair was in a bob cut.

Artemis met her when she caught the girl trying to steal from her. They immediately struck a friendship and it did help that the other girl was extremely intelligent like Artemis. Artemis started to question if the other girl had the same mutant ability as her, but quickly dismissed the thought.

It wasn't long after she met the girl when she got a visit from Charles Xavier. Pepper stayed with her since Tony was in a meeting. Charles explained that she was a mutant, but Artemis quickly stopped the conversation when she saw Valarie walk in. She started yell at the girl about her not staying in the room where no one could find her. Artemis was terrified that her only friend wouldn't be able to visit anymore.

Pepper started freaking out asking who she was talking too and Charles hurriedly accessed Artemis's mind. He then saw that Artemis did in fact see a person, but informed her that the girl was not real and only she could get her to go away. As soon as Artemis realized that; she made the girl leave her mind and the blonde begun to weep silently for the loss of her only friend.

 **2009**

Tony started to talk and hangout with Artemis more often after Pepper explained the events of the past year. Guilt was eating him up that she felt so lonely that a second mutant ability kicked in. He was also upset at the fact that when she discovered her first ability, she didn't tell him.

Artemis was grateful that she finally had Tony in her life, but she felt that it wasn't enough. She wanted friends or at least a friend. Someone who she didn't make up. Someone like Jubilation. She wasn't well liked by kids her age because of her 'know it all' attitude. She came off as rude and stuck up, but it wasn't like she meant to. So for the past year she had been working on a device that could send her somewhere new and send her back with just a push of a button. Of course she didn't know _where_ it would take her, but that made it all the more better.

Finally it was the day that she could use it. May 2nd 2009. The day she circled on her kitten calendar. A smile graced her lips as her finger connected to the button and a white light emerged around her.

Artemis woke up when she felt like she was being shoved. Her eyes blinked open to be greeted by green eyes. She quickly scampered into an upright position. "Hello." She offered the black haired man a smile. He furrowed his eyebrows before responding.

"You're a mortal."

"Yeah…what are you?" The blonde questioned without hesitation.

"Asgardian." He replied sharply. "How did a mere mortal like you get here without aid from Heimdall?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"I could simply report you to Odin for infringing. Maybe they'll feed you to the snakes for execution." The black haired male offered with a mischievous grin. Artemis let out a gulp before nodding.

"I-I made a machine that would bring me somewhere random. I didn't know it would bring me to another world! Honest!"

"Calm down child. You're telling me that a mortal, child none the less, simply built something that let you travel to another world undetected." The green eyed man observed the young girl suspiciously.

"Mhm. I'm Artemis by the way. The girl introduced.

"I am Loki, future king of Asgard."

The two began conversing with each other. Loki practically forced the young girl to promise to make him a machine that would take him to any location he wished to go.

 **2010**

"Dad?" Artemis woke up startled to see the man who deemed her worthless years ago.

"Hey baby girl." He grabbed her into a hug.

"How did you get in?" The young girl demanded, "Why are you here."

"I'm here to bring you back to where you belong."

"But Tony-"

"He was just here to watch over you." Lawrence Crock growled.

"I don't wanna leave." Artemis crossed her arms and shot him the best glare she could muster up.

The last thing Artemis saw was her father's hand before it connected with her face.

"Too bad you don't get a choice baby girl."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

 **2014**

"Way to go Artemis." Wally West bumped into her shoulder, causing her to slightly lose balance.

The blonde took a deep breath as Kaldur and Robin followed the seething ginger. The four of them were on a mission and it ended in utter chaos. Sometime during Kidflash's fight with Cheshire, Artemis noticed how her sister whispered something into his ear. Seconds later his green orbs looked accusingly into hers.

Artemis decided to head home immediately. There was nothing for her at the mountain. As she made her way to her beaten up apartment, she thought of home. Home was where she could be herself. Home was with her uncle. Home was where she didn't have to struggle to keep her abilities hidden.

She was warned to never use or reveal her powers to anyone in any circumstance by her father. Artemis noticed how cautious he was around the League of Shadows. The girl was forced to suppress her intelligence and was forced to ignore the illusions.

"Artemis welcome home darling." Paula Crock's voice rang out softly once Artemis got inside and locked the door. The girl walked over to her mother, gave her a hug, and went straight to the shower. Artemis loved her mother and all, but she didn't know her. The last time she _really_ talked to her mom was before she went to jail. Artemis had a better connection with her father then her mother. Paula Crock was practically a stranger who lived with her.

As she showered she wondered what her sister had told her teammate. Artemis also wondered why Wally believed her so readily. The archer sighed. She just wanted to be back home. She wanted to be back with her uncle Tony and Pepper. She wanted to meet other mutants and maybe befriend them. She wanted to be trusted and not to worry about who her parents were. She didn't want to constantly be on edge. She just wanted to belong.

She got out the shower and got dressed. She didn't bother to dry her long hair. If she got sick, then oh well. The blonde walked into her room and checked her phone. She had three missed calls from wally and two text from Robin.

 _From: Robin_

 _Message: Hey Artemis, Wally wants to talk to you_

 _From: Robin_

 _Message: Please answer or I won't hear the end of it_

Artemis couldn't begin to guess what he wanted to talk to her about. Whatever Jade had told him wasn't good and she bet he just wanted to yell at her and call her a traitor. Artemis was not in the mood to hear it. She turned her phone off and began to do some homework.

It was a quarter past one in the morning when the archer forced herself to stop. Her first class was math and she didn't want to fall asleep, not that she could with Dick sitting next to her. She had no doubts that he'll pester her instead of paying attention to class. But, he was smart enough not to need too. Artemis was in advance classes and so was Dick. He was smart enough to skip three years of math and go straight to senior math and science courses. Artemis did the same, but with math and English. After this school year was over they would have two extra free periods, which in Artemis's opinion was worth it.

Artemis went to sleep and woke up at seven in the morning. She did her daily morning routine and left her apartment as quick as possible. She took her time to walk to school in order to clear her mind and think. She loved to have her personal time.

Once she arrived to school she went straight for her friend, Bette Kane.

"How's it going Crockpot." The other blonde greeted.

"Tired." Artemis mumbled out

"When aren't you." Bette rolled her eyes.

"Shut up and be my cane." Artemis ordered as she leaned against Bette.

Better rolled her eyes, but helped to guide Artemis anyway. "Hardy har you're so funny Crock."

The two made their way to a table and Bette non-to gently dumped Artemis into a seat. Artemis groaned, but let her head drop onto the table so she could rest some more. That didn't last long because Dick Grayson decided that he wanted to annoy Artemis a bit early that day.

"Artemis!" The thirteen-year-old yelled cheerfully. "How was your weekend?"

The blonde shot him a glare, "Decent."

"Decent?" He raised a brow.

"Yes."

"Details would be nice."

"None of your business." The blonde huffed. "Stop being annoying."

"Rude." The boy slid into the seat next to her.

"Hey Bette, oh hey Dick." The other blonde rolled her eyes at the freshman.

"Oh hey Kane. Didn't see you there." Dick jested. Bette simply flipped off the underclassman before flipping her loose curls. Artemis shook her head in amusement before laying back into her arms. Bette sat across from Artemis and started playing on her phone while Dick played with the archer's hair. The three stayed like that until the bell rings.

Artemis and Dick made their way to their first class, math. Artemis internally groaned when she walked in and Dick was already annoying her.

"Don't you have something better to do Grayson?" The blonde gave the younger boy a dirty look.

"Nope." He popped the 'p' before giving Artemis his best grin.

The two teens sat down next to each other in the back row as usual. Artemis took out a pencil and notebook and Dick decided to be a cocky little shit and just sit there with no materials. _"What's the point when I already know all of this?"_ She could practically hear Dick say.

Class goes smoothly besides Dick constantly poking her and stealing her pencil to doodle on her paper. Lucky for her, that was the only class she had with him so the day went well. After school was over, Artemis went home to change into some casual clothes before leaving for the mountain. She couldn't wear her uniform there since she's supposed to live in Star City, not Gotham. Though, she would rather be living with her real uncle at the moment.

"Artemis B07"

"ARTEMIS!" Kidflash was immediately in her line of sight.

"What?" Artemis demanded with a cool face. She really didn't feel like having Wally put her down.

"We need to talk."

"I got the message loud and clear." The archer narrowed her eyes. She then proceeded to walk past him, but Wally grabbed her wrist.

"ArtemisI'mSorry!" He blurted.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry." He repeated.

"For what exactly?" The archer snatched her wrist from Wally's grasp, eyes still narrowed.

"I was a jerk-"

"You're always a jerk." She rolled her eyes.

"Hey I'm trying to apologize here!" He wailed in annoyance.

"I don't want your apology Wally. The cycle is just going to repeat anyway." Artemis huffed and wasn't interrupted when she walked away.

She went straight to the training room, where Connor gave her a curious look. Artemis shrugged, assuming he heard the whole conversation she had with kid douchebag.

"Where's Canary?" Artemis asked to no one in particular.

"Maybe she is running late?" Kaldur suggested.

"She's never late." Robin frowned at his own statement.

"First time for everything." A gust of wind blew past the blonde, to reveal Wally.

"Do you think something bad happened to her?" Megan piped up worriedly.

"She can handle herself." Artemis tried to reassure her friend.

"Yeah but-"

The cave's alarm system stated to blare loudly. The team ran out of the training room, fully defensive.

 _"Linked up."_ Megan linked all their minds together.

 _"Thanks Miss M."_ Robin sent back.

 _"Everyone in groups of twos."_ Kaldur ordered, _"Robin you're with Artemis, Superboy you and Kid Flash, Miss Martian you're with me. Split up."_

Artemis and Robin nod then separate from the group. They head towards the teams living quarters. Silently, they listen for any indication of activity. The two teens froze as they heard noise in Artemis' room. Robin prepared to open the door and Artemis notched an arrow. As soon as the door opened, the arrow was shot, but it hit the wall lamely.

"And here I thought you would be capable of at least leaving a scratch." A familiar voice taunted in obvious disappointment.

"Shit." Artemis cursed.

 _"You know him?"_ Robin questioned.

 _"Robin, Artemis what is your location?" Aqualad demanded._

 _"You know it's quite rude to have a conversation in front of guest." The man interjected._

 _"Who are you?!"_

 _"How did you get in here?!"_

"Loki what are you doing here?" Artemis disconnected herself from the mental link.

"Imagine my surprise when I find out that you are related to Tony Stark." Loki gave the teen a wicked smile.

Artemis frowned at the confession, "What did you do to Tony?" She tried to remain calm, although her heart was beating disturbingly fast.

"Nothing," He waved her off simply, "It's what I plan to do. I suggest you come with me willingly."

Artemis recognized the threat that laced his voice.

"Artemis don't." Robin pleaded. His stance was tense, as if he was ready to fight.

"Robin I have to go. I can't let him hurt my uncle." Her eyes begged him to stand down.

"Tick tock time is of the essence." Loki warned.

The blonde made her way over to the God. He pulled out a familiar machine and started to turn its dials.

"Artemis!" Wally yelled, speeding his way towards her location. But, it was too late. Within a flash of light, she was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Artemis stared at her reflection in the mirror with disdain. Loki had given her a green flowy dress to wear for some German event. He wouldn't go into details about what his plans were or how Tony fit into it. She was concerned and suspicious of her kidnapper. Who wouldn't be?

"Do I really have to wear this?" Artemis mumbled to herself. She really didn't like dresses. They reminded her of some of the assassinations she had done in the past. No one ever suspected her at the age of 11 to kill anyone. She would always wear a cute dress and an innocent look to throw her victims off.

"Green suits you." Loki walked in the room with a straight face. Artemis rolled her eyes at his voice. Of course, he would like green. Loki did seem like the narcissistic type.

An hour later, Artemis found herself accompanying Loki to the German event. He looked around as if searching for prey. Artemis recognized the look he was giving, he was going to cause someone pain. Loki's eyes glistened in mirth and amusement as he caught eye of someone. We made our way towards the man, but not before Loki decided to hit a man who was just standing there minding his business. Everyone looked at us in alarm, but Loki paid them no mind. Instead he grabbed a man by the back of his neck and shoved him onto a statue.

Artemis watched as he pulled a device from his jacket. In an instant, she pushed Loki, which resulted in him back handing her. Artemis fell to the ground, listening to the peoples screams as they ran away. She silently hoped that they would all, or at least mostly get away.

The archer got up and stood in shock as Loki jammed some machine into the guy's eye. She felt vomit threaten to arise, but she willed it down. It wasn't like she hadn't seen worse. Once Loki finished he shifted his gaze toward her.

"Come now." The grin never left his face. Artemis hesitated before complying. She needed to focus one making sure everyone got out. She took one quick look at Loki as they walked, her arm connected to his. There was no way she could face him.

"KNEEL!" Loki bellowed to the crowd before them. Artemis felt a shiver shift down her spine. She surveyed the area as discreet as she could while Loki went off on a tirade on how humans were beneath him. An old man stood up and caught the archers attention. She admired the way he stood up to Loki, knowing how it could possibly get him killed.

Loki was going to make an example out of the man, when a man with a shield appeared between Loki and the old man. The god and archer were forced to disconnect when they both fell downward. Both easily caught themselves.

"The soldier. The man out of time." Loki spat out. Artemis looked on in confusion. Man out of time? As soon as she got out of this situation she was going to do some hardcore research.

"I'm not the one out of time." The man in the patriotic suit stated with confidence.

An airship attacked Loki immediately after. As the patriotic man and Loki fought, Artemis went to help guide the people out. She had to do damage control a few times on missions that went wrong with the team.

"This way!" Artemis yelled and pointed out the direction that would lead people away from the battle. She noticed an elderly woman fall, but the people around her paid her no mind and nearly trampled her. Artemis ran toward the woman and helped her get to a safe location.

"Thank you." The old woman smiled at the teen.

Artemis just simply nodded in response and returned to her previous location. When she got there, the patriotic man was joined by a man in a metal suit.

"What the hell have I missed." The teen mumbled to herself. She noticed how Loki had surrendered. That didn't sit right with her.

Artemis cautiously walked up to the men. Patriotic man tensed up and the robot froze at the sight of her.

"I'm not here to fight. He has something of mine." She slowly reached into Loki's pocket and took the device she made from him out.

"What is that?" The man with the shield questioned.

"A mistake." The blonde vaguely answered. She placed the device on the ground and stomped on it. She then gazed up at the aircraft that was landing.

"You got a name kid?" The robotic man questioned.

"Yeah It's Artemis."

"Shit." The robotic man curse lowly.

"How old are you?" Mr. American gave a look to the robot then gazed concerned like at the blonde.

"Instead of giving me the 50 questions you should be arresting him." She pointed to Loki, who looked amused at the whole situation.

"HANDS UP!" A woman walked out of the aircraft with two sets of high-tech handcuffs and a gun in her other hand. Artemis took a deep breath and complied. By just looking at the woman, Artemis could tell she was highly trained.

"Hey she's just a kid!" The walking flag stood in front of the archer.

"She's my niece." The robot allowed his mask to slide up. Artemis nearly stopped breathing when she saw her uncle.

"Tony." She whispered.

"Surprise." Loki grinned wickedly from his seat on the pavement.

"Shut it." The redheaded woman ordered. She proceeded to lock him in the handcuffs.

"What is your niece doing here Stark?"

"That's something that I would like to know." Her uncle looked at her in confusion.

The woman in the cat suit walked toward Artemis and locked her up as well. Artemis didn't fight it. She didn't utter a word, which was okay since Tony protested angrily.

"Look Tony calm down." The blonde suggested, "Protocol is protocol. They might not see me as an enemy anyway, just a source of information." She explained as they entered the aircraft. Artemis was seated opposite to Loki, which she did not appreciate one bit. She didn't like how easily he gave up. It was suspicious as hell.

Lighting suddenly struck rapidly from thin air. Loki looked around a bit fearful of it. _Thor._ Artemis thought. She recalled him being the god of thunder or lightning and Loki's brother. Artemis gave the God of mischief a taunting look.

"Scared of a little lightning?" The star-spangled fighter teased Loki.

"I'm not too fond of what follows after." Loki admitted. Artemis reframed from snorting.

 _Thud_

Something landed on the aircraft. _Most likely Thor_. Artemis commented mentally. Tony put his mask on, ready to fight. He opened the jet and Thor himself greeted him by knocking Tony back. Loki attempted to run, but Thor grabbed him by his neck and flew out the aircraft with him.

Artemis was being led to the opposite direction of Loki once they got to the giant platform in the air. He was most likely going to be locked up secure while she was going into interrogation. The blonde couldn't decide if she was going to give them information. She assumed that they were a part of the government, but that wasn't a reason to trust them. Especially with sensitive information she had.

She was guided into a chair once they reached the room she was in. No one uttered a word and everyone left to lock the room up. Two guards stood posted outside the interrogation box. Artemis glanced around the room lazily. As expected she was basically in a white box.

A sigh escaped her lips. How was the team reacting to her departure? Did they think that she's traitor? Wally probably did. Her thoughts were interrupted when the door suddenly opened.

"Hope you weren't waiting too long." A man in a suit walked in. Artemis kept her eyes trained on him as he sat across from her. "I'm Agent Coulson."

"Artemis Crock." She gave him an unsure smile.

"So, tell me Artemis," He began, "What were you doing with Loki?"

"I don't know. He suddenly appeared and said something about me being Tony Stark's niece. Now I'm here." She answered simply.

"You've been gone for 4 years." Coulson noted.

"I know." A sad twinkle hit Artemis' eyes. Those four years were hell to say the least. Those four years made Artemis hate her father. She wanted nothing to do with him. She wanted nothing to do with Jade either. Her sister did nothing but taunt her. They were supposed to be family, yet Jade started working for those she ran from. She started working for the people that made her leave Artemis.

"Where have you been?"

The archer took a deep inhale. Did she want to reveal that? All governments have corruption. She didn't know whether to reveal this information to him. He was just an agent. "Do you have a higher up I could talk to?"

Coulson looked shocked for a second, but he quickly fixed his expression and nodded. "I'll go get Director Fury. Nice meeting you Artemis." He winked before he exited.

Artemis didn't have to wait long for someone else to enter. A black man with an eye patch on entered the room with an air of authority.

"Tell me what you found to be so important that you had to interrupt what I was doing." The man went straight to the point. Artemis sat up straighter. She didn't know who was scarier, batman or him.

"It's about where I've been for the past four years' sir." She answered him immediately. He walked up to her, his hands were behind him. His gaze demanded that she explain herself, and that's exactly what she did. She explained that her dad, a wanted man in this universe, had taken her to another dimension. She told him how she was trained to be an assassin and how her mother had gotten that to stop once she had gotten out of prison.

"I'm giving you one chance. I don't give them often kid so don't do anything to ruin it." He gave her a pointed look. Artemis nodded with wide eyes. This guy was definitely scarier then Batman. The man walked over to her and removed the cuffs. Artemis immediately rubbed her sore wrist.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it." He made his way out of the room and Artemis cautiously followed. They made their way toward a meeting area.

"-Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster." Artemis could hear her uncle ramble on.

"Doctor Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him." Director Fury directed towards Tony.

"Artemis!" Tony called out to her in surprise and slight joy. Artemis immediately went to go hug him.

"Never thought I was going to see you again." She admitted.

"Who's this?" A man with glasses questioned.

"Artemis Crock. This is Tony's missing niece. Loki's plan involved using her against Tony." Coulson answered him.

"Nice to meet you I'm Bruce Banner." The man with the glasses introduced himself.

"I'm Steve Rogers." The man in the flag suit followed.

"This isn't the time for introductions." A woman, who had her hair pulled back, narrowed her eyes at the group.

"Right." Steve coughed, "Okay let's start with that stick of his. It's similar to a hydra weapon."

Fury shook his head, "I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor looked at Fury with a confused expression.

"I get it!" Steve shot up with excitement. Tony rolled his eyes at the man. "I get the reference." Steve sheepishly sat back down.

"Ready Doctor Banner?" Tony turned toward the man.

"As ready as I'll ever be." The other man rolled his eyes.

"Artemis, I need to come with me." Director Fury instructed. Tony looked as if he were going to protest.

"Focus on Loki." Artemis told him. Tony nodded reluctantly.

"Romanov, you too." Fury beckoned the redhead to follow as well.

Artemis followed Fury to what she presumed to be his office. The director sat down at his desk. Artemis sat across from him and Romanov remained standing.

"Agent Romanov this is Artemis Crock, Tony's niece." Fury began.

"I am aware." The agent looked over the younger girl warily.

"I'm trusting you with information that _will_ remain in this room got it?"

Romanov nodded without hesitation.

"Ms. Crock claims to have travelled through to an alternate dimension." He stated simply, gauging his agents' reaction.

"And you believed her?" Romanov questioned immediately.

"We have Gods, a man from just recently thawed from ice, a man who fights crime in a metal suits, and another guy who turns into a giant green _Hulk_ when angered all on board. I find this to be the least unbelievable circumstance to happen today. So yes I believe she did travel from another dimension." Fury gave Romanov an unbelieving look.

"How is that possible sir?" Romanov gave Artemis a look before turning to her superior and frowning. Director Fury raised his eyebrow toward Artemis, expecting her to answer.

"Never asked." The blonde admitted.

"You're telling me that you travelled through to another dimension and never questioned how you got there?" Fury gave the teen a look that screamed _'You fucked up kid'._ Agent Romanov look annoyed.

"Look I was immediately trained to follow directions, specifically his. Rule number one was never to question him." Artemis flinched at a memory. She remembered how she tried to defy her father the first night back with him. She wanted to go home to uncle Tony and Pepper. Lawrence backhanded her and the held a knife to her throat. She didn't rebel for a while after that.

"Who is he?" Romanov questioned. Her stance softened a tad bit.

"My father." Artemis answered.

"So you're saying that he called the shots?" The agent inquired.

"No, but I think he's a double agent. He would tell me to go through with my missions, but then give me missions to retrieve some weird tech. They were off the radar." The archer explained to the two.

"Any idea who he was working with?" Romanov and Fury shared a look.

"No. He kept me away from his business partners."

"Artemis, you are to remain supervised and you are to tell no one about where you were. Understand." Fury ordered.

Artemis looked taken aback, "Okay then what am I supposed to tell people?"

"You ran away." Romanov provided immediately.

"For four years?" Artemis frowned.

"You met some people who let you stay with them for the first two year. You kept moving around for the next two. Then Loki kidnapped you and you were reunited with your uncle." The agent explained. Artemis kept her frown, but didn't object.

"We will be talking again soon." Fury dismissed her. Artemis left the room and wondered around aimlessly. She found Agent Coulson and Thor.

"Artemis! Hope Fury didn't scare you too much." The man smiled warmly at her.

"Nothing I can't handle." Artemis responded. She felt completely out of place. She didn't know how to act. Should she try to befriend these people or keep her distance? She honestly didn't know who she was. She was forced to be a top-notch assassin for years, but then she was sent to work with inexperienced teens. Teens who had never done a job without the help of their mentor. Or help in general. Teens who struggled to work together. Artemis even struggled since she had only been on solo missions before them.

She didn't know how to interact genuinely with people. Bette and Dick were easy to interact with, but that was because they went to her and befriended her. They took the lead in her friendships with them. Artemis was now out of her element. She didn't know the people, the organizations, or the heroes. She had nothing to go off of. She was essentially alone. Alone with a secret that she couldn't even tell her uncle, who had the right to know.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Artemis was pissed. Being kidnapped once was one thing, but twice and by the same person nonetheless was another. All she remembered was the commotion, blaring lights, and a monstrous roar, before she was knocked out cold. She just woken up in Starks towers of all places. Loki stood at the window, staring at the chaos he brought onto earth. The archer narrowed her eyes.

"Why did you take me?" She asked.

"You're awake." Loki mused, "You're an intelligent being, I'm sure you already know."

Artemis took a frustrated breath. She didn't have time for games. She needed to help those people. She scanned the room for an escape, but didn't see a way to get away. She was jerked away from her thoughts when she heard noise. She watched as Tony calmly entered the room as if this was a daily occurrence. He briefly glanced at her before focusing on Loki.

"Are you here to give me the speech about how I can change and stop all of this?" Loki drawled in amusement.

"I'm actually here to threaten you." Tony shrugged and made his way over to the bar.

Artemis frowned and Loki grinned. What was Tony doing? Why didn't he have his suit when facing this man? She opted to keep quiet.

"You should've kept the suit on for that." The god took steps towards Artemis. She was leverage. She gave him a heated glare. Oh how Artemis hated being used. The girl knew she had to do something quick and sneakily at that. She needed to be able to trick the God of Mischief himself.

"Wanna drink?" Tony raised a curious brow at the God as if they were old friends.

"Stalling won't work."

"Not stalling-threatening. Do you want a drink or not because I'm sure as hell having one." Tony poured himself some brown liquour.

Artemis halfheartedly listed to the conversation. She was only paying attention to key fragments while she tried to conjure up a plan of her own. She could always try to use her mutant ability that could cast illusions, but she still had no idea how to control them. The teen huffed a frustrated sigh. She had no access to her _own_ abilities and had no idea what the hell Tony was doing.

Her sigh must have caught the attention of both men, as they glanced at her.

"Are we boring you?" Loki asked. He walked up to Tony. "How about we spice up this family reunion with a little violence." Loki lifted his scepter to Tony's heart. As it connected a clink was heard. Loki visibly frowned and tried again. Tony grinned as if he knew this was going to happen.

"Seems like your pointy stick is having issues." Tony taunted.

"No matter." Loki easily grabbed Tony's throat,

"You'll be dead soon anyway." Tony's body was flung threw the window with ease.

Artemis couldn't help but to gasp at the sight.

Quickly, she ran towards the window, but Loki grabbed her arm. She gave him a heated glare. "What the fuck do you want with me?" She spat out. Tears pooled the outer edges of her eyes. She hated this supposed God. She regretted giving him that stupid device that got him there in the first place.

"I want your mind. Your intelligence." He studied her.

"There's a such thing as asking." Her body was shaking in anger. "Go-" The girl was interrupted by one of Tony's suits whizzing past her and out the window. Moments later the suit appeared in front of them. She took Loki's moment of shock to escape his grasp and ran to the other side of the room.

"This is for my niece and Phil." A blast shot from the suit and hit Loki. A blue light streamed from outside. "Right, Aliens." Tony commented, "Stay alive kid." He briefly spoke to Artemis before flying towards a swarm of aliens. What even was Artemis' life? The archer quickly ran out of the room. She was searching for something to cut that damn dress she was forced to wear.

After searching a few rooms, she finally found sharp scissors. She wasted no time to cut the dress about mid-thigh. She knew she was pretty much useless against aliens and a god. Artemis had no weapon and she was pretty sure close combat was out of question for her. She frowned, there was no way that she was going to sit back and watch this chaos. She needed to do something.

Quickly, Artemis found the closest window and observed. These aliens had a weapon of sorts, Artemis just needed to access one and fast. She saw that one of the aliens was going to make its way past the window she was at. It was going to be risky, but she had to help.

Artemis opened the window and prepared to jump onto the aircraft. Once she did, she gave the alien no chance to even acknowledge her as she snapped it's neck. The teen took note of how much strength it took to accomplish that and how the alien to spark. She had no time to think about that as she hurriedly grabbed it's staff and jumped off the craft and towards safety as it crashed.

"That was a risky move kid." A man who wielded a bow and arrow commented. Agent Romanov nodded in approval and acknowledgement.

Artemis began to fight and successfully kill some of the aliens. "I succeeded, didn't I?" She responded. The man simply snorted while killing aliens of his own.

It didn't take long for Artemis to separate from the two. They were more than capable of handling themselves and the blonde wanted to make sure she could handle the aliens that came from other directions. Soon she regretted her decision to split when she was thrown against a building. She winced in pain, but fought none the less. He left arm took most of the damage and was most likely broken. It sure did hurt like hell and it made fighting extremely difficult. After defeating a couple of aliens that targeted her, she ripped a little more of her dress off and made a make shift sling.

Soon, she heard a terrifying roar that sent shivers down her spine. "What the hell did I get myself into?" She asked herself. She leaned against the building for a few seconds of rest before heading towards where she heard the roar. Luckily, it didn't take long before she spotted Steve and Romanov. Artemis's eyes widened at the sight of a gigantic green beast destroying the aliens with ease. Hopefully he was on the good side.

She snapped out her shock and focused again at the task at hand. Artemis spun around, sensing a presence behind her. She honestly just wanted this day to end

Xxx

Artemis looked to the sky in pure horror. Her uncle was going to die. There was no doubt about it. She was going to lose the only family member she still had faith in. Artemis couldn't help the tears that fell down her face. She did everything she could to keep from sobbing. Her eyes couldn't tear away from the gaping hole in the sky.

The aliens around collapse. The archer gives them a bitter look. She then looks around and makes eye contact with Steve. He gives her a pitied look. Her gaze returns to the sky.

"Close it." Artemis faintly heard Steve order. The portal closed, but not before Tony could escape.

The avengers shouted around her but she couldn't make out what was said. Her body ran cold. She felt numb and her ears felt clogged. She's snapped out of her daze as the green monstrous creature grabbed Tony before he could fall.

Her faith lived. Tony was alive.

Xxx

"I'm not keeping this secret from Tony." Artemis stood in front of Director Fury confidently. She requested to speak with him while the Avengers were out celebrating with food. "I almost lost him today and I'm not gonna risk losing his trust. He's the only family that I have left that I can trust completely."

Fury stared at the girl as if to analyze her. Artemis waited a few seconds before continuing. "On another note, I have no idea how this world works or of any of its events since I've been gone. That's kind of suspicious. Tony's not dumb. I'll lie to the public but not him." She finished. She was doing her best to keep her tremors to a minimum.

"I'll allow you to tell him on one condition." The man finally spoke.

Artemis's eyes lit up with determination, "Anything."


	5. Chapter 5

After speaking with Fury, the teen had to take deep, slow breaths in order to fight off the oncoming panic attack. She hated pretending to be that fearless person. She doubted Fury even fell for it. Her father used to tell her how he could always see right through her. Usually she was placed on stay out of site types of missions. Locate target, kill quickly and efficiently, get out.

"Morning." Tony yawned while entering the room.

Artemis eyed her uncle warily. She had done research on Iron Man and it was rather bizarre. Tony had been kidnapped by an enemy country, who had been using his weapons, then he was forced to create a weapon for them. Instead he made the first version of his iron man suit. He had escaped and helped some village then publicly announced that he was iron man.

"What's up kiddo?" Tony looked at her curiously. The two were currently in the kitchen area, where he was now drinking coffee, and she was gazing at her tea deep in thought. It had been a week since the whole Loki fiasco, yet she still dreaded what she was about to tell her uncle.

"I wanted to tell you where I've been." She glanced up at him briefly. Tony hadn't asked once since she's been there. She didn't know if he didn't care or didn't want to push her. Artemis held off telling him about it because of the fact that Tony was still dealing with the fact that he almost died. She resolved to finally tell him because she didn't want to lie to him.

She continued, "It might be a lot to take in, especially considering this week." He nodded slowly, curiosity burned into his eyes. "My dad took me." The teen took a deep breath. "He took me back to where he's been all this time, another dimension. That's where he met my mom."

Tony remained silent so she continued, "He trained me-"

"What?" He immediately jolted upright. Tony knew his brother was a bad egg and that he was doing awful things in his freetime. He never knew what it was exactly and he didn't want to know. Well, that was until now. He eyed Artemis with a concerned gaze. She's young and she was even younger when she disappeared. "What kind of training?" There was a desperate edge to his voice.

Artemis refused to look him in the eye. Once he knew what she'd done. Who she really was, he'd want nothing to do with her. The apple never fell far from the tree. "He trained me to be an assassin." She spoke lowly.

"Ah fuck... no." Tony groaned angrily. Artemis instinctually flinched. Tony's eyes softened at that. He should've done better. He should have been there for her and paid more attention. "What did he make you do?" He pleaded softly. This is something he needed to know. Tony had to know what she endured so she can live a better life. He didn't want her to grow up to be a fuck up like noticed how hesitant she was. "Whatever it was, it's not your fault. You're-" He swallowed harshly, "-you're just a kid"

Artemis observed her uncle. He looked torn about the whole situation, hurt even. "I had to learn how to use all kinds of weapons. He said I needed to be at peak performance, so I had to be fast, intelligent, and strong. I learned all kinds of martial arts and multiple languages. Training began whenever he deemed fit, expect the unexpected and always be aware. If I messed up during training there were punishments." Her voice came out robotically. She was attempting to distance herself from the memories. "There were days that he'd leave me in some unknown area and I had to survive with no starting resources." She took a deep breath, "I had to kill-" Tears immediately leaked down her face, "-i-i had to kill them. It was them or me." She started sobbing.

Tony didn't hesitate to engulf her into a hug. His niece couldn't stop shaking. The genius tried to keep his anger at bay. He'd kill his brother for what he did to Artemis, who was only fifteen." He could only imagine the pain and fear she felt while being dictated by her father. He held her even tighter and she latched on almost as tightly. After a few moments she pulled away. She wanted to continue. She need to get this out.

"My mom got out of jail not too long ago. The first thing she did was kick him out and tell him that i'm not going to be apart of the life." Artemis smiled softly. "When I heard her say that, I thought that maybe I wasn't destined for that. Maybe I could be something greater, so I started patrolling the city. I saw a group of teens about my age fighting. One of them, kidflash-" Tony couldn't help but to snort at the name, "- I saved him. I shot an arrow at their enemy and then left. Two days later Batman and Green Arrow offered me a chance to have a new start. I ended up joining that team and Green Arrow was my mentor."

"Batman?" Tony shot an eyebrow up as he smirked.

Artemis rolled her eyes, "You go by ironman. Your suit isn't even made of iron!"

Her uncle snorted in response, "The people chose it not me. So-" He gave her a mischievous look, "What do you go by?"

"Artemis."

"What? Where's the originality? The drama? The flare?"

"The greek goddess was an archer." She offered.

"Lame. Do better kiddo." He gave her a faux stern look that had Artemis smiling.

"I'll think about it." She jested before becoming serious once more, "You can't tell anyone about this. I had to convince Fury to let me tell you."

Red flags went off in Tony's mind, "Here's some advice: don't trust him and shield completely. Hell don't even trust the government." He warned her. Tony didn't like the fact that shield had this information on her, He had no doubt that they would try to recruit her eventually, especially considering her skills and knowledge.

"Do they know about your abilities?"

She shook her head, "I haven't mentioned them."

"Good." He nodded, pleased. "How have you been handling it?"

"I haven't" She admitted. "Dad told me never to use them. He didn't want the organization to know about them."

Tony frowned in confusion, "How did you manage to just _not_ use it?"

"I have two abilities." Tony looked mildly surprised, "Illusions and enhanced intelligence."

"Oooh sounds fun." His eyes lit up. "How does it work?"

"It's kinda like I have more access to my mind than everyone else. I store my information and hardly forget anything. There's a small area in my brain that's dedicated to my abilities and I just kinda…" She thought for a moment, "turned it off like a switch. Except it only partially turns them off, but it's very useful."

Tony hummed in thought. He'd have to test that brain of hers one day. "We're gonna have to catch you up to speed on this worlds happenings and what not." He changed the subject.

Artemis eyes lit up in interest, "Can we start off with Steve? Like how he's alive and young?"

He rolled his eyes, "Turned into a capsicle and got unthawned recently. You got anything less boring?"

"What's with the Hulk?"

"Science fair project gone wrong. Next."

Green Arrow stared at the team with a mixture of both anger and worry. He had been at home with Roy, when he was notified of an intruder at the mountain and that Black Canary couldn't enter. Immediately they both hurriedly costumed up and left. When they got there he was horrified to find out that Artemis, his protege, was taken by some magic user. He couldn't help but to slightly blame the teens for not being there to stop it, but at the same time he knew this wasn't their fault.

"He entered the mind link," Kaldur was debriefing them on the situation, "Artemis then chosen to leave the link."

"She would need to have strong mental strength to do that." Megan piped up.

"Robin what happened after that?" Black Canary questioned.

"He mentioned hurting someone she was related to, said his name was Tony Stark. Artemis told ,me she had to make sure he didn't hurt her uncle. Then he pulled out a machine and they left." Robin looked at his mentor confused. Artemis didn't have an uncle as far as he was aware.

Batman nodded, "We'll look into this. You're dismissed." The dark knight then left the cave with Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Red Arrow in tow. They all went to one of the bases that was in metropolis. Dinah and Oliver shared a look in question as to why Bruce chose to go there instead of the space thingy.

"What do you know Br-" Oliver stopped speaking when he noticed Roy was still there. "Roy you're going to have to leave. This is league business."

"No." The red head narrowed his eyes at the three league members, "I've done research. I know who Artemis is and I want to know why you're all covering for her? And why are _you-_ " His hardened gaze narrowed in on his adoptive father,"-pretending to be her uncle."

"This information doesn't leave this conversation." Batman spoke.

"Are you sure about this?" Dinah questioned her sometimes friend.

"He could be valuable at gaining the information I need."

"What aren't you telling me? What _didn't_ you tell me?" Oliver demanded angrily.

"I have a theory that Lawrence Crock isn't from this world."

"An Alien?" Dinah blinked in surprise,

"No, an alternate Dimension." The three other people in the room tried to take in that information before batman continued."There were times where he would seemingly disappear from the face of the earth. Artemis was born in this world, but I believe she spent a part of her childhood elsewhere. She disappeared when she was 6 and reappeared at the age of 11."

"That doesn't explain the alternate world part." Ollie pointed out..

"I found a trail that led me to where Sportsmaster would go before he left for a period of time. It's a machine of some kind. There was a symbol on it with an octopus form but there's only six legs and the head is a skull. Nothing i've seen be used by the league of shadows before. I studied the energy readings being emitted from that area and received nothing that corresponded with this world."

"So this is a theory because you can't confirm where he goes." Roy noted out loud. "How do I come into play?"

"Use your connection with Cheshire to your advantage." Batman responded.

Oliver let a chuckle loose when he saw the tips of his sons ears turn red. Batman cleared his throat and he turned toward him. "You think this man took Artemis back to that other dimension?"

"That's the most probable answer at the moment. I searched for a Tony Stark and there's none in existence here."

"Why don't we go look at this machine that Sportsmaster is using?" Dinah asked.

Batman shook his head at that, "That machine is being guarded by tech not from here. They all share the same symbol. I nearly died from being in there." The atmosphere turned grim from that confession. Batman looked Oliver in the eye, "Go get some rest. We'll find her."

Roy took that moment to observe his father. Oliver looked torn up of the situation. The redhead dearly hoped that Artemis wasn't the mole and that she was the victim in this situation, for Ollie's sake. Ollie seemed to really care for the girl as if she were his own.

Batman left.

"Roy," Dinah began, "I shouldn't be telling you this due to confidentiality, but I think you need to hear this. Please don't judge Artemis based on where she comes from. She didn't choose to be born into a family of assassins."

"Dinah-" Oliver tried to protest. Artemis didn't want anyone to know where she came from. She was having a hard time trying not to judge herself. Having others judge her for her family would break her.

"No Oliver." She gave him a sharp look. "He needs to know this." Her gaze returned to Roy. "She was forced to do horrible things. She was abused physically and mentally by the one she called a father. He was all she had since her sister abandoned her, Artemis was only eleven years old and forced endure so much pain. She was forced to grow up and she may never fully recover from the trauma's she had endured. She told me how she was afraid of being rejected because of who she was. She had never interacted with kids her own age besides school, and even then she rarely spoke to anyone.

"This team was supposed to change her life for the better. She felt like she actually had a chance to redeem herself and be a kid for once. Then you and Wally go on and on about how she can't be trusted and how she's most likely the mole. Do know how many times she has come to either Oliver or I about how she should just quit? How she isn't cut out for this. Every time she comes to us distraught we have to convince her not to give up and that she could get through it. So please keep this in mind when going about this. She's just a fifteen year old girl who's witnessed too much and wants to find her own way."

By the end of her speech she was full out crying. Roy had to keep tears from falling himself. "I'm sorry." His eyes cast down. He never even considered what she had been through. He's been too concerned about proving himself to the league and he never stopped to think.

"Tell her that when we bring her home." Dinah and Oliver then left.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Artemis Crock looked around in awe at the store she was in. It was the size of a mall! A small mall, but a mall nonetheless. Pepper placed another clothing item in the basket and Artemis huffed in response, "I don't need all of these clothes."

Pepper rolled her eyes before turning to face the teen. The woman narrowed her eyes at her and placed her hands on her hips, "You only have a dress, two pairs of my old jeans, and few of Tony's shirts. You need your own wardrobe"

Artemis frowned, while glancing at the cart in front of her, "I only need a couple of jackets, jeans, and shirts not a whole clothing store!"

"You're over exaggerating." The older woman sighed. Who knew that teens could be so difficult? "Look I get that you're probably uncomfortable with having all this money spent on you, but Tony's going to spoil you regardless, so you might as well get used to it" She pointed out, silently hoping that Artemis would accept.

The blonde cast her eyes downward in defeat, "I don't have to like it." She mumbled.

The two finished getting everything that Pepper thought was essential for Artemis to have. A whole wardrobe plus some. Artemis was not happy about it, but at the same time she was grateful.

The two hounded the clothes into the car that Happy pulled up to the front. "What do you want to eat?" Pepper questioned the teen,

Artemis shrugged,"It doesn't matter."

"Chinese it is then!" Pepper seemed a bit giddy at the idea.

The two go into a very much expensive authentic chinese restaurant. Artemis was once again in awe at the size of the place. They two were escorted towards the back, where it was more private. They both ordered and silently waited for their food. Pepper was on her tablet, most likely doing something for work. Artemis was sadly stuck in her thoughts, since Tony was still working on making her a personalized phone.

The archer wondered how her mother was reacting to her disappearance. She felt horrible for leaving her, but Tony was more of a parent than either Paula or Lawrence. She only had vague memories of her mother before being separated the first time. She was about six and her mother was cruel and demanded nothing short of perfection. At the same time she was caring and loving. Younger Artemis was always in a state of confusion. She never knew what triggered her moods.

Lawrence was an asshole throughout her whole childhood. She hated that she still loved him. She hated that he took her away from Tony. Even though Tony wasn't completely there for her, he at least never hurt her on purpose.

Jade was probably the worst in her opinion. Her sister abandoned her then went right into the life she abandoned her to run away from. She comes back taunting her as if Artemis changing sides was a bad thing. As if Jade didn't attempt to do the same exact thing years ago.

"Please don't leave again." Peppers voice startled the blonde.

Artemis looked at her in confusion, "What?"

The red head sighed and positioned herself on her elbows. Her chin rested in her hands as she kept eye contact with the 15 year old, "When you left the first time, Tony was a wreck. His reckless habits multiplied tenfold. He blamed himself. It took me forever to convince him that he wasn't like his father. I'm sure he still believes it somewhat." Her eyes downcast for a split second, "Tony's been through so much and I can see how happy he is to have you back. Please don't leave again." Pepper pleaded.

Artemis looked away sadly, "I wish I could go back and keep myself from leaving." She muttered. She hated her father even more in that moment. He really could be a monster.

xxxxx

Artemis had just finished putting away all of her new belongings when JARVIS told her to head to Tony's lab. The blonde was curious and bored so she made her way there immediately. When she arrived she noted how messy the lab was. Tony must have been tinkering in there for a while. It was a bit concerning, but Artemis figured it was how he got his mind off of what happened in New York.

"We're moving!" Tony blurted immediately once he noticed her. He spared her a glance before returning her gaze to whatever he was messing with in his hand.

Artemis frowned, she literally just put all of her clothes away. Now she had to pack them up? "What?"

"We'll still have this house but we're now going to be staying in the Starks Towers."

"It's destroyed…"

Tony waved his hand in dismissal still messing with some item in his hand,"What's broken can always be fixed. Once it's fixed up Brucie will be staying with us!" Tony seemed a little to excited at the idea."We're gonna have labs and multiple rooms and- OO! Movie night!"

Artemis couldn't help but to smile at her uncle. He reminded her of a small child at the moment, "That sounds like fun."

"That reminds me, school." Tony turned his attention toward her,"I'm hoping that your father still sent you to one"

The teen found an empty table to sit on, "Yeah I went and I transferred to another one when I joined the team"

"Grades?"

"Straight A's at a prestigious school. I'm a sophomore, but I take a couple of senior classes."

"Science and math?" Tony questioned expectantly.

"Yup." The blonde nodded.

Tony looked at his niece thoughtfully, "You wanna be homeschooled? Private School? Public school? It's up to you kiddo."

Artemis answers almost immediately,"Public. I just want some normalcy in my life."

Tony frowned at her choice, but didn't fight her, "Can-do. You're gonna have to use your own surname for that. You alright with that?"

"I want to take my mothers name, Nguyen." Artemis agreed.

Tony nodded and continued on with tinkering whatever it was in his hand.

Artemis got up and sighed, "I guess I should go pack what I have." She mumbled in annoyance.

Xxxxx

Roy walked into his apartment with resolve he spent the night and the day with Dinah and Ollie. They were both highly upset, especially Ollie. He felt that he could have done something to help. Roy owed to it Artemis to get to the bottom of this situation with her father. It was obvious that Sportsmaster was doing more than the League of Shadows wanted. He just needed to figure out how to get more information. Cheshire usually found him, not the other way around. Getting information out of her would be even harder. She was too intelligent for her own good.

"Think too hard Red and you'll hurt yourself." Think of the devil and they will appear. Cheshire made her way in from his window as if it was an everyday occurance. It almost was one, but that wasn't the point.

"What do you want?" Roy demanded gruffly.

"Straight to the point tonight?" She slowly walked over to him. She removed her mask as she did so. She placed the mask on his kitchen table once they were chest to chest. "Maybe I just wanted to have a bit of fun." She glided her index finger up and down his chest.

Roy shoved her off of him, "What do you want Cheshire."

The black haired beauty pouted, "You're no fun." She flipped her hair, "If you must know. My dear sister went missing. Know anything about that?"

"Why do you care? Didn't you abandon her." He challenged.

Jade's demeanor changed from her usual flirty one to a slightly aggressive one."I see you've been doing your research." She cut her eyes at him, "I did what I had to do."

Roy chuckled darkly, "You did what you had to do for you."

Jade took a deep breath before smiling, "Tomato, tomato. Now do you know where my sister is or do I have to get that information through other means?" She stepped towards him again.

"I don't know anything." Roy responded.

"Wrong answer." She placed a quick kiss on his lips before whispering, "Broken Arrow."

Everything went black.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Artemis tried not to stare back at the woman in front of her and focus on her sandwich instead. She was pretty sure Black Widow's surprise visit was because she was sent to observe her. Artemis was mildly annoyed with that realization, but ultimately tried to shrug it off. She hated not being trusted. The girl could recall a few nightmares about the suspicious gazes of her teammates. Ex teammates? She frowned at the thought.

She doesn't know if she wants to try to go back home yet. She liked the idea of having a new beginning, but at the same time her mom, Ollie, and Dinah were all probably worried sick. Artemis had gotten close with her fake uncle and her combat instructor. They were her rock while she faced her internal demons and Wally's constant insults. Whenever she would see her sister or father on a mission, she would go to them or sometimes talk to Robin.

Robin is another person who just might miss her. There was also Bette, Babs, and Dick. They were amazing friends and it was like Artemis could actually breathe around them. She briefly wondered where they thought she was.

Artemis took a deep breathe to keep herself from crying, or at least sniffling. She could decide how she was going to deal with this dimensional travel bullshit a later time. Right now she needed to focus on picking out the paint for her new room in Starks Towers. They had just moved in the day prior and Tony, of course, only had the multiple labs fully finished. Artemis didn't mind it though, she was allowed to give suggestions about rooms that could fill the tower. Her first suggestion was a place she could practice her archery. Tony said he'll put it on her floor.

Oh yeah _floor._ Each person gets their own floor because being rich has amazing perks, especially when Stark towers has 60 of them. She didn't need a whole entire floor to herself, but she didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially since she's getting an archery room.

Artemis snapped her attention back to the color palettes that laid next to her barely eaten sandwich. She let slip a grunt of annoyance. A shade of green would _totally_ be cliche, but it was her favorite color. _Screw it!_ She grabbed all the shades of green and huffed at all the choices.

"You should go with this shade." Natasha pointed to a dark emerald color, "Put some dark brown furniture in it and it could be a place where you also ground yourself."

Artemis nodded, "You should be a interior designer." She took a small bite of her sandwich after making the dry comment.

Natasha snorted, "I'll think about it if I ever change careers."

The teen simply rolled her eyes at that.

Natasha openly eyed the letter that was on the other side of Artemis's food, "Science and technology?" She picked up the acceptance letter and read it over.

Artemis shrugged, "I like science." She was just glad it wasn't private school. She hated the entitlement from the majority of students. They were also snobs, well except her friends. Babs was nice since she could relate to Artemis being a scholarship kid. Bette's bitchy attitude wasn't bad since it was never aimed at her in a serious way, plus she did her best to include Artemis and welcome her as a friend. Lastly, Dick was her best friend, secretly of course. He was always there for her and he also knew the most about her home life, minus the assassins part. She highly doubted she would find friends like that again in a private school.

"Why Midtown?" The woman seemed genuinely curious, but Artemis knew better. She was a spy, a master at acting.

"Why do you care?" The archer narrowed her eyes annoyed. She honestly didn't want to go, but Tony had annoyed her by having JARVIS continuously blast AC/DC all over the tower until she begrudgingly agreed to take the test for the school. She passed with flying colors and eyed Tony suspiciously as he grinned wickedly. Considering it was a school you have to apply for in middle school, she knew Tony pulled some strings and probably bribed someone with a "donation". She didn't want to reveal that to Romanov, simply because of the fact that the woman was a spy.

"Just curious." The other woman's stare was heavy, but this time Artemis held her gaze, her eyes never letting up from the glare. Black Widow nodded before smiling.

Artemis looked to her in confusion, "What was that?"

"You're going to do well here."

"Thanks for the faith I guess." Artemis mumbled and threw away the rest of her sandwich.

"You haven't been eating a lot." Black Widow noted. The red head went into the fridge and fished out a protein shake and handed it to the teen.

Artemis graciously accepted it with her good hand, opened it with her teeth, and gingerly sipped it before responding, "My appetite's been low since I talked to Tony about my past." She took another sip, "He's been mother henning me. I'm pretty sure he has a live video feed up in his lab while he's working. Right JARVIS?"

"That is correct Miss Artemis."

"Drop the Miss Jar." She groaned and Black Widow chuckled.

"Be gracious that you have someone who care's looking after you." The older woman advised. "We'll talk more later. In the meantime, build your appetite back up."

"Will do!"

* * *

Artemis entered the halls of Midtown School of Science and Technology with her head down, barely acknowledging the art on the walls. She let out an annoyed huff. She hastily headed to the office, grunting and shoving past the onlookers who refused to move out of her way. A blush still stained her cheeks from the conversation she had with her uncle that morning. Tony gave her a lecture about keeping a low profile and staying away from boys. Boys were the last thing on her mind.

Artemis made it to the office and explained she needed her schedule. The receptionist gave her a look of slight confusion, but gave her the paper nonetheless. Before Artemis could head out to search for her class, a hard body bumped into her, causing her to drop the paper.

"I'm so sorry!" A boyish voice frantically apologized. He scrambled to pick up her schedule and hand it to her.

"Mister Parker would you mind helping Miss Nguyen find her classes today?

"Yeah! Definitely!" He looked at the secretary with wide eyes, most likely still recovering from bumping into the new girl. He then turned to Artemis, "I just need to turn in these forms and then we'll be good to go."

Artemis nodded and occupied herself with looking over her schedule.

AP Biology: Advanced Genetics

Chemistry

English

Advanced European History

PE

Lunch

Precal

Latin

Study Hall

"Can I see your schedule?" The stranger asked a minute later.

"Yeah sure." She handed it to him.

The stranger hummed in approval as he scanned it, "Looks like we have chem, PE, lunch, and study hall together." He handed it back to her and began to guide her back into the hall. "I have class in the science wing too, so I can walk you over to your class and also point out where the chemistry lab is at."

"Sounds good." Artemis awkwardly responded. She didn't know what to say and that fact made her really miss Bette.

They walked in silence for a bit before the guy stopped in his tracks as a girl walked by. Artemis stared at him, then her retreating figure, then him again. "Sooo" The blonde drawled out with a knowing smirk, "you're crushing on her? She's pretty."

"Yeah she is." He responded still dazed. He blinked a couple of times before shaking his head furiously, "I mean," He faked like he was clearing his throat, "Yeah let's get you to class."

They resumed walking, but this time Parker's ears had a red hue to them and Artemis was on the verge of cackling at his embarrassment. She was glad to have some sort of entertainment now, especially since she had no friends here whatsoever. She decided that she was going to annoy the shit out of this guy.

* * *

Artemis felt that class ended way too early considering she actually enjoyed it. Well she enjoyed the material, but the professor was officially on her shitlist for the time being. Being new to a school that didn't generally accept new students was already annoying enough. Now she had to deal with the teacher's condescing attitude and comments about how she was guaranteed to flunk out since she arrived so late. To top it off, he had the audacity to continuously call on her. She was glad that the girl next to her let her copy her previous notes.

On the bright side, she now had the opportunity to mess with... what's his name? Artemis walked into the Chemistry lab with a little pep in her step. She noticed her tour guide sitting at a table already and he waved her over once he saw her. "Thanks." She hummed as she slid into her seat.

"No problemo." He gave her a warm smile. "I'm Peter by the way." He held his hand out to her.

She grabbed it with a semi firm grip, "Artemis."

"That's so cool!" He gaped in excitement.

"What is?" A larger boy slid into the seat next to Peter.

"Her name is!"

Artemis smiled at the new guy sheepishly, it was her turn to be embarrassed. "I'm Artemis."

She watched in amusement as his expression shifted to amazement. Before he could utter a response, the teacher walked in.

He stood in front of his desk, look downward at a note on it. "Ah I forgot about the rarity of the day." His gaze shifted upward and scanned the room until his eyes landed on her. "I see that you're no stranger to chemistry Miss Nguyen, so how about you explain to me how you manage to keep your hair from being a hazard." Mr. Cobbwell lifted an eyebrow and a couple of students snickered not so discreetly.

"I braid it into two plaits and then tuck it into my lab coat." She responded nonchalantly. This was nothing new, in fact she had to deal with similar questions with nearly every chemistry teacher she had.

"And how long will your arm be in a cast?"

"I get it removed this week." She may have said that a little too eagerly, but she's been behind on her training and she needed to work herself harder in order to get back in shape.

He nodded in acceptance then began to teach the class. Twenty minutes into the lecture and Artemis was bored. She already knew about what was being taught, so she doodled little pictures in her journal. She amused herself by drawing little various smiley faces, but then she ran out, so she opted for sad faces, but the same issue happened again. She sighed and leaned her head onto her right hand. She watched as Peter received a note from his friend. He scribbled down a response before handing it back. The friend nodded to Peter and then Peter grabbed the note and placed it on her notebook before resuming his notes.

Artemis skimmed through the messy handwriting that was most likely from the friend, who she had watched quickly chicken scratch it, then she skimmed through Peter decent writing. She smiled at the contents of the note.

 _You think she would sit with us at lunch?_

 _You wanna ask? She has PE with us so we can all walk to the cafe together._

 _Wanna sit with us at Lunch?_

Artemis gave a fake thoughtful look before frowning. She aggressively wrote down a 'yes' before passing it back to Peter who was slightly pouting. Peter passed it over and Artemis had to contain a snort as the friend gave out a gasp of excitement.

"Yes Ned I agree with that sentiment!" Mr. Cobbwell pointed excitedly to said boy. "See at least someone appreciates my humor."

The three glanced at the board and Artemis couldn't help but to snicker. Mr. Cobbwell had an image of a meme on the screen that said:

I TOLD A CHEMISTRY JOKE

AND THERE WAS NO REACTION

Ned seemed flustered at the unexpected attention.

Mr. Cobbwell's attention shifted over to Artemis, who can't keep the amusement off her face. "A fan of science puns Miss Nguyen?"

"Sorry sir," She chuckled, "I only like them periodically."

The class groaned and quickly made their exit as the bell rang. Ned gave her a dopey grin and Peter looked unamused.

"I think i'm going to enjoy you in my class."

"I think I'm gonna enjoy being here."

* * *

Ned and Peter headed to their usual table with a grinning Artemis in tow. They had to do laps throughout the whole class. Artemis was allowed to be excused due to her arm, but she insisted she join in with her classmates. Running was an activity she missed dearly, especially since Gotham Academy didn't have a required gym course. There were various sports for competitions, but that was it.

"Why are you so happy?" Ned eyed her suspiciously.

"I like gym." She chirped.

"Gross." A female voice uttered. Artemis turned her head and noticed the girl she sat next to in biology reading.

Peter looked at the girl with a shocked expression. "How did you get here so fast? Class just ended two minutes ago!"

The girl looked up lazily, with a bored expression, "I teleported." The three stared at her until her eyes went back to the book she was reading.

Artemis muttered something about feeling unsettled and the boys nodded in agreement before questioning their new blonde friend.

"So how did you get in so late?" Peter frowned while fishing a sandwich from his bag.

"Yeah! That's _never_ happened-" Ned looked to Peter, who nodded in confirmation, then turned his gaze back to Artemis, "-like ever in the history of this school!"

Artemis shrugged uncomfortably, "I transferred from a school that's similar." She grabbed a protein shake from her bag and looked to the boys, "Can one of you open this for me?" Peter and Ned hurridley fought to be able to help her. Artemis internally grinned at how easy it was to distract them. The other girl at the table caught her eye as she glanced at Artemis suspiciously before reading once more.

Peter ended up being the victor and handed her the shake with a grin. Artemis snorted and accepted it with her free hand before taking a gulp. The two boys dismissed themselves to go get food. The blonde took out her homework and eyed they assignments warily. Chemistry and English shouldn't be trouble at all, but Biology and History were going to be hell. Plus who knows how Latin's going to go? She was rusty at it. Artemis slightly cursed her overachiever tendencies.

Ned and Peter returned with food that actually looked edible. Today's lunch special was nachos or tacos, students choice.

"You're not gonna get some?" Ned asked.

Artemis shook her head, "I'm an athlete," She attempted to explain, "This cast already has it so I can't work out, so I really can't afford to eat junk food."

The two nodded in unison. Peter eyed the papers in front of her with interest, "You wanna come over later for some help?"

Ned elbowed him "Dude!"

"Ned too." Peter frowned and rubbed his now sore arm.

Artemis looked at them thoughtfully. She didn't believe they had any ill intent, but she'd also have to be dumb not to notice the crush they both harbored on her. Ned's crush seemed more prominent than Peter's, who's eyes occasionally strayed toward Liz (who was in her history and PE class). "Sure, I've got nothing to do anyway."

"The Academic Decathlon meeting is today." The other girl spoke, without sparing a glance at the residents of the table.

Peter's expression fell at the sudden realization.

"What time is the meeting over?" Artemis asked.

"Five." The boy mumbled.

"Ned you got anything to do after school?"

"Nope."

Artemis gulped down the rest of her shake before speaking, "You can show me the clubs and sports until Peter's done then we can all leave together."

Peter's eyes lit up once more, "That's perfect!" Ned nodded in agreement.

Artemis sent a text to Tony letting him know of her plans and where she was going to be. He had try to call her, but she ignored the calls and opted for texting instead. After about fifty messages on her end, he had begrudgingly agreed to let her go over to Peter's. Of course there were rules he had set.

No activity above a G rating

Happy will pick her up at 8pm on the dot, so be ready not a second later.

Only talks of Studying is allowed

No hanky panky (Which honestly could have went along with the first rule)

Answer the phone immediately when he called

Rule 5 Applied to text too

Have fun

But not really

* * *

By the time school had let out and Peter was done with his meeting, Artemis was determined to join Gymnastics when she got her cast removed. She wanted to be able to practice without Tony's supervision, via Jarvis.

The tour with Ned didn't last long, so the two teens got some ice cream from a shop not to far from the school. They waited for Peter outside the school and made small talk. As soon as Artemis admitted she had never seen Star Wars, Ned looked at her with an expression similar to a kicked puppy.

"I'll watch it eventually." She tried to assure him. She had no idea how he did it, but she felt genuinely bad that she upset him. _Over Star Wars of all things!_

"How do you feel about legos?" Ned questioned hesitantly, she figured it was because she hurt him with her Star Wars answer.

She kept from commenting about them being for kids, "I dunno, I've never had any before."

"No way!" Peter shouted once he reached them.

"Shut up Parker!" Some guy, Artemis vaguely remembered him being in one of her classes, shouted. Peter rolled his eyes and kept making his way toward his best friend and new friend.

"Legos?" Artemis offered the conversation topic.

"Yeah we definitely have to fix that." Peter and Ned shared a look.

The archer eyed them with concern, "Well not today. Today is a homework day and I need to catch up."

The three started walking toward the train they needed to get on. They were stopped in their tracks, when the guy from before pulled up next to them in a sports car. "Hey new girl, how about you ditch-"

"No thanks." Artemis cut him off before continuing walking, Ned and Peter scurried next to her with identical grins.

The guy in the car looked baffled and stayed in his spot for a bit before someone honked. He sped off faster than he'd arrived.

Once the three got situated on the train, Ned and Peter started going back and forth about how awesome that was.

"I don't like rich assholes." She grumbled.

"I'm not rich!" Peter spoke at the same time as Ned, who said something along the lines of not being an asshole.

"Dude." The boys groaned at the same time.

Artemis snorted for the umteenth time that day, but she couldn't help it. They reminded her of Wally and Robin. Her heart ached at the thought of her team. Sure they didn't always get along and sure they had more failed missions that completed, but they were her messed up family. She missed them, even Wally. She wondered how they were doing.

* * *

Regardless of the mask Robin wore, it was obvious how angry the younger boy was. Wally had never seen so much anger from his best friend in his life. He especially never saw that expression aimed toward him.

"Rob?" Wally cautiously questioned.

"No. Don't talk to me, I need you to listen." Robin took a deep breath before continuing. "Artemis has been through so much that you don't understand. None of you do! Sure she kept secrets, but who here hasn't?" Megan and Conner looked away at that comment. "I mean none of you know my identity besides one person in this room. We all have secrets and I'm sick of it!"

"Robin?" Zatanna looked at him concerned as tears fell down openly.

"No Zee I'm sick of this! All these secrets are making it so that no one can trust one of our own."

Wally spoke up at that, "Cheshire said-"

"Cheshire is an assassin who likes to play games. Are we really going to believe her when she's most likely attempting to tear us apart from the inside out?" Robin responded cooly.

"You are right." Aqualad spoke up, "The more we fight and doubt our own, the weaker we are as a team."

"Artemis was threatened." Megan spoke lowly.

"What?" Wally frowned in confusion.

"That guy who took her used family against her." The martian explained. "Why wouldn't she go willingly?"

"We don't know anything about her." Conner spoke dejectedly.

"She was scared to let anyone know." Robin admitted, "I'm tired of the secrets. We can't find one of our own because of them." His hands went towards his mask.

Wally's eyes were wide, "Robin what-"

The boy yanked off his mask, "My name is Richard Grayson, but my friends call me Dick." He grinned with watery eyes. "No more secrets."

* * *

AN:

Ayeee it's my longest chapter yet! Alright here's the game plan for this story:

There are going to be 2 or 3 arcs total.

Arc 1 is already planned out (which is why it took so long for me to update).

Peter is an essential part of Artemis's storyline in Arc 1


End file.
